The Kingston Trio (1958-1967)

Hello, time travelers!  I’m your Rock and Roll Flashback host, Jumpin’ John, and in this podcast episode I will review the first 10 years of one of the most commercially successful folk groups ever:  The Kingston Trio!  

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Transcript

Hello, time travelers!  I’m your Rock and Roll Flashback host, Jumpin’ John, and in this podcast episode I will review the first 10 years of one of the most commercially successful folk groups ever:  The Kingston Trio!  

Dave Guard and Bob Shane had been friends since junior high school at the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii.  They both learned to play ukulele and six string guitar, with Shane teaching Guard his first guitar chords.  After graduating from high school in 1952, Guard enrolled at Stanford University.  Shane enrolled at Menlo College, where he became friends with Nick Reynolds.  Not only did Reynolds have an extensive knowledge of folk and calypso songs, but he was skilled at singing tenor harmonies and at playing guitar and bongos.  Shane and Reynolds performed at fraternity parties for a time, and eventually Shane introduced Reynolds to Guard.  The three began performing small gigs, billing themselves under the name of "Dave Guard and the Calypsonians".  Soon Shane returned to Hawaii, and Guard and Reynolds remained in California, performing with assorted other band mates.  In 1956, San Francisco publicist Frank Werber offered his services to Guard and  Reynolds.  After dropping their two current band mates, Guard and Reynolds contacted Shane, asking him to join the reconstituted group in California.  In March 1957 Shane left Honolulu and returned to California to work again with his friends as a trio.  They adopted the name the Kingston Trio.

Their initial approach to music was determined by the skills that each member brought to the group, usually with Dave Guard on banjo, Bob Shane on guitar, and Nick Reynolds on guitar and bongos, with all three on vocals.  Shane sang most of the lead parts, simply because he had no familiarity with harmony singing.  Reynolds sang a third above the melody, and Guard handled whatever was left above or below.  Guard had taken some banjo lessons, but otherwise they were completely self-taught on their instruments.  After a couple months of intense practice, their sound was coming together and their voices blending nicely.  In June 1957 Werber booked  them for a week's engagement at the Purple Onion nightclub in San Francisco.  The Trio had been well prepared.  Decked out in their signature striped short- sleeve shirts, their performances ran smoothly night after night.  They even had scripted and memorized their comic stage banter between songs.  Quickly they achieved such local popularity that the initial week's engagement stretched to six months.  

In February 1958 they signed a 7-year recording contract with Capitol Records.  On February 5th they began a 3-day recording session with producer Voyle Gilmore at Capitol Studio B in Hollywood.  Gilmore recruited Purple Onion house bassist Buzz Wheeler to play on the first album to add the same kind of "bottom" to the Trio's sound that he had heard in their live performances.  He also recorded the group's songs without the supporting orchestral accompaniment that was so popular at that time.  The song selections on the first album reflected the repertoire that the musicians had been working on for two years, ranging from traditional and contemporary songs to calypso-flavored tunes.  On June 1st Capitol released their first album, which was simply called The Kingston Trio.  Their debut album entered the album charts in late October 1958.  After Paul Colburn, a Salt Lake City DJ at station KLUB, began playing the album cut "Tom Dooley" extensively on his show, there was a rush of album sales in the Salt Lake area.  Fans loved that song.  Colburn called other DJs around the country, and the national response to the song was so strong that a reluctant Capitol Records finally released "Tom Dooley" as a single on August 8th, 1958.  It reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on November 17th, sold a million copies by Christmas 1958, and was awarded a gold record on January 21st, 1959.  "Tom Dooley" would remain on the charts for five months and earned the group their only gold single.  The song is often credited with starting the "folk music boom" of the late 1950's and 1960's.  

[Here is an excerpt from the Kingston Trio song "Tom Dooley"]

"Tom Dooley" also spurred their debut album to a #1 position on the charts and helped the band earn a second gold record, this time for the LP.  The album remained charted on Billboard's weekly reports for 195 weeks.  The success of the album and the single earned the Kingston Trio a Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Performance for "Tom Dooley" at the awards' inaugural ceremony in 1959.  At the time, no folk music category existed.  The next year, largely as a result of The Kingston Trio LP and the "Tom Dooley" single, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences instituted a folk category.  The Trio's recording of "Tom Dooley" was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress and honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.  The Grammy Foundation named "Tom Dooley" one of  the Songs of the Century.  

The Kingston Trio debut album became a landmark record, introducing a generation to the beauty and simplicity of folk music.  "Scotch and Soda", though not their biggest hit, resonated deeply with listeners.  This was perhaps because it captured a sense of quiet introspection that was often overlooked in the more exuberant music of the era.  The song "Scotch and Soda" was discovered by the Trio through the parents of the Major League Baseball star Tom Seaver.  Seaver's parents had first heard it in a hotel piano lounge in 1932 when on their honeymoon in Phoenix, Arizona.  They liked it so much that they had the piano player write it down for them so it would be "their song."  Dave Guard was dating Seaver's older sister, Katie, at that time and heard "Scotch and Soda" on a visit to the Seaver home.  The Trio never discovered the real songwriter's name, though they searched for years.  The recorded song was sung by Bob Shane, and it reached #20 on the Billboard chart in 1958.  

With their initial recordings complete, Frank Werber then booked a national club tour in Spring 1958 for the Trio.  After performing at prominent night spots like Mister Kelly's in Chicago, the Village Vanguard in New York City, and Storyville in Boston, in June 1956 they returned to San Francisco and its showcase nightclub, the hungry i.  On June 1st, 1959, The Kingston Trio at Large LP, the Kingston Trio's fourth album, was released.  It was the Trio's first stereo studio album and one of the four they would simultaneously have on Billboard's Top 10 albums during that year.  It spent fifteen weeks at #1.  The Kingston Trio at Large was the first Trio studio album with David "Buck" Wheat on double bass and occasional guitar.  Wheat also assisted with arrangements and would remain with the trio until the end of 1961.  The single "M. T. A." backed with "All My Sorrows" spent eleven weeks on the singles charts and peaked at #15.  

[Here is an excerpt from the Kingston Trio song "M.T.A."]

The Trio's second single that same year, "The Tijuana Jail" backed with "Oh Cindy", was recorded during The Kingston Trio at Large sessions.  It peaked at #12.  The huge success of The Kingston Trio at Large came on the heels of the successes of The Kingston Trio LP, of their live album ...from the Hungry i, and of the single "Tom Dooley".  Consequently, Life magazine featured the Trio on their August 3rd, 1959, cover.  In polls in both Billboard and Cash Box the Kingston Trio were voted "The Best Group of the Year for 1959" by the nation's disc jockeys.  The fifth album by the Kingston Trio, Here We Go Again!, was released on October 19th, 1959.  It is one of the four albums that the Trio would have simultaneously have in Billboard's Top 10 albums during the year.  It spent eight weeks at #1 and received an RIAA gold certification the same day as At Large.

At the Grammy Awards of 1960 The Kingston Trio at Large won the first Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording.  It was also nominated in the "Best Vocal Group or Chorus" category.  An RIAA gold album award was presented on January 19th, 1961.  Only the 1962 compilation album, The Best of the Kingston Trio, has sold more copies than The Kingston Trio at Large.  On April 4th, 1960 Sold Out became the sixth album released by the group.  Sold Out was their fourth LP to reach #1 and stayed on the Billboard Top 40 for 54 weeks, longer than any other Trio album.  The Kingston Trio's seventh album, String Along, was released in July 1960.  It was their fifth studio album in a row to reach #1 on the Billboard charts and remained there for ten weeks.  String Along received an RIAA gold certification in 1962, a year after Dave Guard had left the group.  It was the last LP of the Trio to reach the #1 spot. 

The Kingston Trio, with their clean-cut image and harmonious vocals, were clearly at the forefront of the folk revival of the late 1950's and early 1960's.  The group was immensely popular with almost every segment of the mass audience.  College students especially found both relaxation and validation in their mix of folk songs, humor, and good spirits.  By the early 1960's, there were lots of Kingston Trio imitators sprouting up, but none matched the trio's exposure or sales.  They had brought folk music into the mainstream, bridging the gap between the traditional sounds of the past and the burgeoning youth culture of the time.  As I have mentioned, the Kingston Trio had a remarkable three-year run in which their first five studio albums achieved #1 chart status and were awarded gold records.  By 1961, the group had sold more than eight million records.  Reportedly, the Kingston Trio was responsible for over 15% of Capitol's total sales at a time when Capitol recorded established stars like Frank Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole.  For five consecutive weeks in November and December 1959, four Kingston Trio albums ranked in the top ten of Billboard's Top LPs chart, an accomplishment unmatched by any artist before or since.  The Trio also charted several single records during this time, made numerous television appearances, and played upwards of 200 engagements per year.

So in 1961 the Trio was being described as "the most envied, the most imitated, and the most successful singing group, folk or otherwise, in all show business" and "the undisputed kings of the folk-singing rage by every yardstick".  The Trio's massive record sales in its early days made acoustic folk music commercially viable, paving the way for singer-songwriter, folk rock, and Americana artists who followed in their wake.  After the release of an unsuccessful 1960 Christmas-themed album, on January 30th, 1961 their ninth album, entitled Make Way, was released.  It reached #2 on the Billboard charts, despite there being no US singles released from the album.  The next album, Goin' Places, was released on June 5th, 1961.  It peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts and spent 41 weeks in the Top 40.  Goin' Places was the last album recorded with founder Dave Guard as a member. 

By early 1961 a rift had developed between Dave Guard on one side and Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds on the other.  Guard wanted Shane and Reynolds to follow his lead and learn more of the technical aspects of music and to redirect the group's song selections.  Following a meeting with attorneys on May 10th, 1961, Dave Guard resigned from the Kingston Trio.  Shane, Reynolds, and Werber bought out Guard's interest in the partnership and moved to replace Guard immediately.  

Shortly after leaving the Trio, Dave Guard formed a new group, The Whiskeyhill Singers, with Judy Henske, Cyrus Faryar, and Kingston Trio bassist David "Buck" Wheat.  They toured, released an album, and were asked to perform several folk songs on the Academy Award-winning soundtrack of How the West Was Won.  The Whiskeyhill Singers were disbanded in late 1962 after Guard left for Australia.  

Phase 2 of The Kingston Trio began when the remaining Trio partners settled on adding John Stewart, a member of the Cumberland Three.  Stewart was well-acquainted with Reynolds and Shane, having sold two songs to the Trio.  He was a proficient guitarist, banjoist, and singer.  Stewart began rehearsing and recording with the group nearly immediately, commencing public appearances with the Trio in September 1961.  The second troupe of The Kingston Trio with John Stewart would see an altered vocal blend, and the group began moving away from adapted traditional songs and into singer-songwriter covers.

In October 1961 Close-Up became the eleventh album released by the Kingston Trio.  It was the first release by the group after the departure of founding member Dave Guard and their last album to include Buck Wheat on bass.  Close-Up peaked at #3 on the Billboard chart.  Close-Up was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1961 for Best Performance by a Vocal Group.  Then in February 1962 the live album entitled College Concert was released.  It was the group's third live release and the first live release with new member John Stewart.  College Concert peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts and was the largest-selling release by the Stewart-years Trio.  The Trio had recorded the single version of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" on November 14th, 1961.  Initially they claimed authorship, but they took their names off when song writer Pete Seeger asked them to.  The single, "O Ken Karanga" as the A-side and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" the B-side, reached #21 in the 1962 Billboard Hot 100 chart and #4 on the Easy Listening chart. 

[Here is an excerpt from the Kingston Trio's version of "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?"]

Something Special was released in July 1962, reaching #7 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.  In November New Frontier became the group's third album released in 1962.  It reached #16 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.  The lead-off single was "Greenback Dollar" backed with "New Frontier".  “Greenback Dollar” reached #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The song bridged traditional folk sounds with modern sensibilities.  The song has inspired countless artists and audiences to question societal values and prioritize what truly matters in life.  “Greenback Dollar” is a declaration of independence and a celebration of the human spirit.  For fans of folk music and those who value authenticity and freedom, "Greenback Dollar" remains a timeless anthem of defiance and joy.

[Here is an excerpt from the Kingston Trio's version of "Greenback Dollar"]

The Kingston Trio #16 album, with session musician Glen Campbell playing banjo, was released in March 1963.  It reached #4 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.  The lead-off single was "Reverend Mr. Black" backed with "One More Round", reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  Two more albums came out in 1963:  Sunny Side reached #7 in the album chart and Time to Think reached #18 on the album chart.

Beginning in 1964, The Kingston Trio's dominance in record sales and concert bookings began to wane.  This was partly due to imitators in the pop-folk world and to the rise of other commercial and more political folk groups like Peter, Paul and Mary.  The British Invasion, spearheaded by the Beatles, hurt sales of acoustic folk albums significantly, and Capitol did not make a serious effort to re-sign the group.  Frank Werber secured a generous signing bonus from Decca Records, and the last four albums of the Kingston Trio's first decade were released by that label.  However, without the expertise of producer Voyle Gilmore and engineer Pete Abbott, the Decca releases lacked the aural brilliance of the Capitol albums.  By 1966, Reynolds had grown weary of touring and Stewart wanted to strike out on his own as a singer-songwriter.  The three musicians and Werber developed an exit strategy of playing as many dates as possible for a year with an endpoint determined to be a final two-week engagement at the hungry i in June 1967.  On June 17th, 1967, the Kingston Trio ceased to be an actively performing band.

Following the June 1967 hungry i engagements, Reynolds moved to Oregon and pursued interests in ranching, business, and race cars for the next twenty years.  Stewart commenced a long and distinguished career as a singer-songwriter, composing hit songs like "Daydream Believer" for The Monkees and "Runaway Train" for Rosanne Cash.  He recorded more than 40 albums of his own and found chart success with three singles in the Top 40.  Shane decided to stay in entertainment, and he experimented with solo work.  He recorded several singles and in 1969 organized two troupes under the name of "The New Kingston Trio". 

In 1981, as part of a concert taped for a public television broadcast, the then-current and former group members gathered together into a sort of Kingston Trio mega-group of Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds, Dave Guard, John Stewart, George Grove, and Roger Gambill, with Mary Travers as host and Lindsey Buckingham as special guest.  As of the year 2025 another variation of the Kingston Trio continues to tour with musicians who licensed the name and trademark in 2017.

The legacy of the first two versions of the Kingston Trio is impressive.  The Trio's music left the landscape and the definition of popular music altered completely.  They transformed folk music and influenced thousands of young people to strum guitars and sing folk songs in harmony.  On a personal note, when I first picked up a guitar in 1963, some of the first tunes I learned were Kingston Trio folk songs.  I always associated those folk songs with singing at a summer camp or while gathered around a campfire  As an adult, I played Kingston Trio songs on numerous occasions for my daughters and at family gatherings.  In this century, when I was a member of The Second Winds jazz band, we added "Scotch and Soda" to our repertoire. 

From 1957 until 1963, the Kingston Trio were the most vital and popular folk group in the world.  The group introduced a sound that revolutionized the recording and entertainment industry, and influenced a generations of students, adults, and teenagers alike.  Rising to international popularity fueled by unprecedented sales of LP records, the Kingston Trio helped alter the direction of popular music in the U.S.  The Trio released nineteen albums that made Billboard's Top 100.  Fourteen of those LPs ranked in the top 10, and five hit the #1 spot.  Four of the group's LPs charted among the 10 top-selling albums for five weeks in November and December 1959, a record unmatched for more than 50 years.  The group still ranks in the all-time lists of many of Billboard's cumulative charts, including those for most weeks with a #1 album, most total weeks charting an album, most #1 albums, most consecutive #1 albums, and most top ten albums.

Thank you for traveling back in time with me, Jumpin' John McDermott, as I reviewed the first ten years of the influential folk group known as the Kingston Trio!  I will close out this podcast with the Trio's poignant rendition of "Scotch and Soda".   So, fellow travelers, may your path be smooth and your music be rockin'!  And until next time...Rock On!

[The Kingston Trio's version of "Scotch and Soda"]